The Challenge

A 2,000-person global operations division within an investment bank had spent two years working on a regulator-mandated system integration programme.

The programme needed to integrate the organisation’s systems and operating practices in response to new regulations. However, it remained underperforming and over budget, with no tangible regulatory outcomes delivered.

The lack of progress placed regional operations and revenue generation at risk. Continued failure to deliver would leave part of the organisation unable to meet the required regulatory standards and exposed to potential enforcement action.

The organisation believed that programme resources were failing to deliver. Repeated efficiency initiatives had not resolved the problem, and further investment risked producing more of the same.

What We Found

The presenting issue was the apparent underperformance of the programme and project resources.

Our diagnostic work revealed that the underlying challenge was the way expert production capabilities and project delivery capabilities interacted.

Subject-matter experts wanted complex operational problems to be resolved before programme activity progressed. Programme and project managers needed to maintain delivery against regulatory milestones. Established power dynamics allowed one requirement to obstruct the other, preventing the team from solving operational problems while continuing to deliver the programme.

Unclear deliverables and responsibilities, misaligned capabilities and roles, fear of failure and political behaviour reinforced the blockage. The issue was not a lack of expertise or project capability. It was the absence of working practices that enabled both to contribute effectively at the same time.

Our Approach

We examined the programme’s political, cultural and operational landscape to understand why two years of activity had not produced the required outcomes.

We mapped the programme’s capabilities against its operational requirements and created a transition map showing the behaviours and working patterns enabling or obstructing delivery. This gave the executive and programme teams a clearer view of what needed to change across roles, responsibilities, leadership practices and resource allocation.

Working alongside both teams, we clarified the programme’s strategic and operational deliverables and established clearer roles and accountability. We introduced working practices that enabled subject-matter experts to resolve complex problems while programme and project managers continued delivering the required programme of work.

New key roles were introduced, and resources were redeployed in line with the programme’s purpose and strategy. We also developed the transition leadership capabilities required to implement the revised approach and involved the wider programme team in shaping its delivery.

Measurable Impact

Within 12 weeks, the programme moved from being underperforming and over budget to producing tangible deliverables required to meet regulatory standards.